Six civilians were killed and 10 wounded in a six-hour siege by Al-Shabaab militants at a hotel in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, police said Saturday.

The Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists have been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 15 years and have often targeted hotels, which tend to host high-ranking Somali and foreign officials.

“Six civilians were martyred in the attack… and 10 others were wounded. Three brave members of the security forces were martyred during the rescue operation,” the Somali Police Force said in a statement.

The assault, for which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, began just before 8:00 pm on Friday (1700 GMT) when seven attackers stormed the hotel.

Source: Agencies